If there is no bond deeper or love stronger than that between a parent and a child, then equally, there is no pain greater than when that bond is broken or that love taken away.
For father Akio Yokota, the pain of being separated from his only son was too great to bear, and on Sept. 12, 2011, he took his own life.
In November the previous year his wife left him, taking their 1-year-old son, Kaede, with her. For six months afterwards Yokota had no contact with his son, but at the time of his death a visitation schedule had been set up whereby he could see Kaede for an hour a month.